Angus Beaulieu

Region: 
North Slave
Community: 
Behchoko
Primary Art Type: 
Phone: 

Artist Story

As I was growing up in Behchoko, I used to watch the sewing and beading of my grandma and my aunty when they were making mukluks for the winter. I started sketching the designs when I was about five years old. I watched how they made the flowers and I wanted to do something too – but I wanted to do it in my own way.

I started painting when I was at Chief Jimmy Bruneau School. They had lots of painting classes and I learned about colours there. I was picked by Archie Beaulieu to paint with him on canvas. I was so happy and full of joy. From there I just practiced day after day. Sometimes I would go out on the land to study the willows, trees and landscape.

People in my paintings are mostly hunting, trapping and fishing on the land. I want other people to see how people live in teepees or tents and make dry fish and things like that. That is what I like to capture. My paintings also tell stories about legends from way back. They are Tlicho stories and they talk about living on the land.

I decide what I am going to paint by using my mind and my heart. If I see my vision on a blank canvas it comes from my heart. My favourite painting is about a well-known Tlicho story my grandmother told me – a lady got lost on the land and two angels guided her back.

Artist Bio: 

Angus Beaulieu is a Canadian Aboriginal artist from the community of Behchoko, 100 kilometres south of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He was raised by his family in the community and continues to live there today.

Angus’ passion for art was inspired at an early age by the wildlife and landscape of this area and cultural heritage of the Tłı̨chǫ people. As a teenager, Angus began experimenting with watercolour and acrylic paints, developing a realistic style that is heavily influenced by traditional, cultural and spiritual elements.  Though primarily self-taught, Angus has also completed the Inuvik Fine Art Training Program.  He has developed into one of the finest landscape and wildlife artists in the Northwest Territories.

Today, his artwork reflects the most important aspects of his life – traditional Tłı̨chǫ culture and beliefs, wildlife, the spectacular beauty of northern landscapes, the practice of his traditional way of living and love of his family.

With a strong following of individuals and collectors alike, Angus’s paintings and other media are now collected worldwide. He is represented by Aurora Art Emporium in Yellowknife.

Last Updated: November 25, 2022

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